Tamil Nadu governor administers oath to Ponmudy after dressing down from SC

Chennai: After a rap from the Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Friday administered the oath of office and secrecy to senior DMK leader K Ponmudy as a minister, who was immediately allocated the Higher Education portfolio.

After an acrimonious battle following Ravi's refusal to appoint Ponmudy as a minister despite his being reinstated as an MLA, the governor and Chief Minister M K Stalin exchanged pleasantries at the swearing-in ceremony held in Raj Bhavan.

Minutes after Ponmudy was sworn in, Stalin released a statement thanking the Supreme Court, the custodian of the Constitution, for its “timely intervention and upholding the spirit of the Constitution and saving democracy.”

"In the last decade, the people of India witnessed the dithering of democracy, withering of federalism and misadventures to put spikes before the functioning of sovereign governments elected by the people" and giving age-old traditions a go by. Elections 2024 are crucial to save democracy and uphold the Constitution,” Stalin said.

The decision by the Governor came a day after the Supreme Court castigated him for not following the advice of the Chief Minister in appointing Ponmudy as a minister after his conviction by the High Court in a disproportionate assets (DA) case was stayed and his four-year sentencing suspended by the apex court.

The governor, while refusing to heed to Stalin’s advice, said Ponmudy was not acquitted by the court and appointing him as a minister would amount to Constitutional immorality. However, the Supreme Court rejected the Governor’s interpretation and asked him to take a call on the issue by Friday.

Hours before the Supreme Court was to hear the case, Ravi appointed Ponmudy as a minister and allotted the Higher Education portfolio.

Ponmudy was dropped as Higher Education Minister and disqualified as a legislator in December 2023 after the Madras High Court convicted him in a disproportionate assets (DA) case under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

However, the Supreme Court on March 11, stayed Ponmudy’s conviction and suspended the four-year sentence awarded to him.

This is the second time that the Governor clashed with the Stalin government on the issue of appointment or dismissal of ministers.

In June 2023, the Governor unilaterally “dismissed” V Senthil Balaji from the Cabinet after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, only to put the decision in “abeyance” a couple of hours later. Stalin had not just “disregarded” the Governor’s communication but told him that he had “no powers to dismiss my ministers”

The Governor and the DMK dispensation clashed with each other on a slew of matters, most importantly in the functioning of state-funded universities, prompting the government to knock at the doors of the Supreme Court last year seeking to impose a timeline for the Governor to decide on bills sent to him by the Assembly.